


Watery sky

by Steangine



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Aomine oni, Kuroko zashiki warashi, M/M, Yokai AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-14 07:32:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8003860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steangine/pseuds/Steangine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A zashiki warashi and a oni was never heard of. But that zashiki warashi kept sticking to that oni and that oni started liking that zashiki warashi. [yokai AU]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Watery sky

**Author's Note:**

> http://steamingwonderland.tumblr.com/post/148680431300/loose-leaf-teacanons-wingroad-kuroko
> 
> These official images inspired me. Take a look before reading, so you'll have more information about the yokai mentioned into this one shot.  
> Ofuda are paper talismans with formulas in kanji written on it and they are meant to protect humans from evil beings. Usually they're used to protect places, but they're also one of Sailor Mars' weapons.

That wasn’t a lucky day for Aomine Daiki.

He was stuck in the middle of a forest far from the entrance to his home with humans following his steps and a ofuda carved in the skin of his chest that was slowly consuming all his demonic powers. And it looked like it was about to rain.

“What a lucky day…”

He kept running straight, with his back slightly bended forward under the weight of his club. The more he went on, the more all the green around him looked the same and the scents and sounds arrived distorted to his senses. Aomine was sure it was the doing of the ofuda and he put a hand on it with the intent of ripping it out from his chest. But as he tried to pull it away, a force as intense as a lightning struck his whole body, forcing out of his throat a husky roar of pain. Aomine fell on his knees and didn’t manage to stop his fall: his sight went upside down and he hit his right shoulder hard on the soil, collapsing at the feet of a tree.

The ofuda was burning his flesh with a sinister fizzle, spreading tentacles of black shades that were slowly eating his skin. Aomine felt the itches penetrating deep inside his muscles, breathing the air was like inhaling fire and the pain was so strong that every other sensation was blurred away.

“D-dammit!”

His voice scared some birds. Probably the humans were getting closer, with that bastard priest heading them. He had no chances to stand against them, not in those conditions, and with a strange calm realized that he was going to die. But if that day was meant to be his last, he would have never let a mere human took away his life.

Aomine raised his hand, the claws directed towards his heart. His eyes darted up for an instant, glancing at the gray sky above him.

“Mpf, I can’t even have a nice background.”

Whatever he could have expected, nature itself didn’t like oni like him so, at the beginnings of time, threw all of his kin in the scorching depths of Earth.

The hand pierced through the air and Aomine closed his eyes. However the hit never arrived to him.

An invisible energy coming from the ofuda blocked his sharp fingers so close to his chest the nails slightly scratched the skin, but that was far from being a wound.

“No…”

His eyes widened and he charged the hit again. This time he didn’t even manage to reach the aim.

“No. No. No!”

Aomine clenched his fingers in a fist and tried again and again to hurt himself, but the energy was stronger than he was, and all he did was just increasing his frustration until he slammed his fist on the hard ground with a desperate scream.

“Damn you Shirogane! Damn you!”

His swears would have attracted the humans, but Aomine was angry and ready to pour on them every energy and drop of hate for mankind that he still had inside. The right hand trembled in the effort of clenching around the club and Aomine limped on while raising his head and shoulders, short of breath even before his last battle started.

“Hello.”

A tiny voice managed to cover the sounds of the forest.

Aomine had the impression time slowed down and every motion around him stopped. In front of him appeared a yokai with the eyes of the color of the clear sky. He had a calm aura around, Aomine felt it like a gentle caress but glared at that look empty of every emotion.

“Looking down on me in the moment of my demise. What kind of shitty yokai are you?”

The yokai bowed his head a little. “I’m Kuroko Tetsuya, a zashiki warashi.”

Aomine widened his eyes and suddenly sharpened them with a sarcastic laugh as he let himself lay down. The ofuda fizzled more intensely.

“Heh, so it’s true your kin only appear to other yokai right before death.”

“I don’t know who told you that, but it’s wrong. It’s just difficult to notice us, that’s all.”

“And you decided to show yourself to mock me?”

His growl slightly covered the approaching voices of the humans. Aomine turned his head and clenched his teeth. As he looked in front of him again, he jolted: the zashiki warashi was now bended so near his large clothes tickled him; a hand leaned on his chest and the fingers touching the edges of the ofuda that was making its way inside his flesh.

“W-what?”

The touch was refreshing, the fingertips slid on his skin like a pleasant stream of water during a hot day of summer, and Aomine’s breath slowed down along with the frenzy moves of his chest. He silently observed Kuroko’s pale fingers pinching the ofuda and held his breath expecting pain. But the ofuda detached from his skin easily, as if it was a leaf fell for mistake on him, and the black shades retreated until they disappeared.

Aomine felt nothing and stared in amaze at the ofuda that became a simple piece of written paper in the hand of the zashiki warashi. All of a sudden the energy that the ofuda had been devouring flowed back inside Aomine as the talisman was turning into ashes, escaping from the tiny fingers. The only sign of what happened was the red scar shaped as the ofuda over his heart.

“How do you feel?”

Kuroko hadn’t changed his expression. Yet now Aomine was looking at him with different eyes.

“I–“

The voices of the humans were so close Aomine expected them to appear by any moment. He stood up, grabbed his club and gave Kuroko a severe look. The instant their eyes met was long and Aomine slightly spread his lips. But he stayed silent and escaped in the dark depths of the forest.

 

 

 

Road to hell.

Some humans called that river with that pretentious name and they weren’t that wrong. Its path started from a barren mountain to be gulped into the single entrance of a dark cave; nothing grew around it or swam in its waters because that was the water the oni used to recover from their injuries. Every human who tried to drink or use that water died, whenever he or she was lucky enough to avoid a casual meeting with an oni. At least that was what Aomine had always been told by his parents. However the water was truly a medicine for oni and its effects acted as a poisonous barrier against priests and whoever had bad intentions towards demons.

Aomine submerged himself to his shoulders and sighed in relief before going under water with his head. The sounds, the smells, the sensations were all softened down there and that was the only place Aomine felt safe since when both his parents were killed. Long time ago, he didn’t even remember anymore how much time passed.

He went out from water and shook his head. The scar on his chest was still there, but it wasn’t as marked as before, so he just had to bathe another three or four times to get rid of every slight inch of Shirogane’s lingering power. It was dangerous abandoning his territory with those traces that could lead Shirogane to him again.

He sighed, leaning his elbows on the ground while his body was floating.

“Damn it…”

“Hello.”

The surprise made Aomine fell into the river. He turned spitting water around and recognized a tiny shadow crouched on the other side near his clothes and club.

“You!”

The zashiki warashi bowed his head a little and greeted him again.

“Hello. I see you are doing fine.”

What was his name again?

“…Tetsu.”

He just remembered that part.

Kuroko blinked, showing a tiny glimpse of puzzlement, and gave him a little gentle smile.

Aomine propped up on his arms to get out from the river. He wrapped his white furry tippet around the shoulders and crossed his legs sitting down.

“How did you get here? There’s a kekkai poisonous for your kin.”

Kuroko pointed at a small tuft of hair right at the top of his head tied with a red string in a straight pigtail.

“It’s thanks to this. It’s a talisman.”

“Never saw a pigtail talisman.”

Aomine flinched at the lock.

“Not the pigtail. The string.”

“Ah.”

It was a bizarre situation. Aomine had never seen another yokai in those territories and couldn’t imagine why someone would have gone there by his own accord. The oni had been placed at the base of the pyramid by the other yokai; their naturally violent behavior didn’t help them get along with the outsiders either.

“Why are you here?”

Kuroko leaned his knees on the ground, his sleeves covered his half naked legs.

“I just wanted to make sure you were fine.”

His eyes lingered on the shadow of the scar in the middle of Aomine’s chest. Kuroko raised his hand, his fingers stretched towards him; but Aomine suddenly grabbed his wrist and bared his teeth. He replied to Kuroko’s calm puzzled look with a threatening glare.

“Why did you help me?”

Kuroko didn’t show a single glimpse of any emotion and Aomine wondered if zashiki warashi were able to feel anything.

“Last month you and other oni destroyed an entire village. You killed a lot of people.”

Aomine remembered the episode and regretted they let some humans escape. Shirogane went after him and the others oni because of their carnage and he was the only survivor.

“I just happened to be nearby and guided some children so they could escape. But… you were there.”

It looked like Kuroko was reporting something that didn’t involve him emotionally, however Aomine stared at him with his mouth half open, even if he knew the end of the story.

“And I was afraid. My presence was hidden to everyone’s senses and I was afraid, because I’m not strong enough to stop an oni and you were there, standing in front of those children that I lead there through my arts. I brought them directly into your arms. I was sure you would have killed them.”

But Aomine didn’t.

He clearly remembered the teary eyes of the little boy who was clenching on his bigger sister. His little ruined ball fell from his shaky hands and rolled to Aomine’s feet. The children held their breaths as he grabbed the ball and tended it back to the little boy; his sister took it with a swift movement filled with fear and that awakened all the other children from their own panic so they managed to run away. Aomine didn’t even think about chasing them.

“…I didn’t notice you.”

“My presence was hidden.”

Aomine released his wrist, leaving the red trace of his fingers on the pale skin. He slightly widened his eyes and looked away from him.

“Now you verified I’m fine. Go away.”

Kuroko hid his arm inside the sleeve and stood up. In a blink of eyes, he was gone.

 

 

 

An oni and a zashiki warashi together was something never heard of. Zashiki warashi were under the protection of tengu, crow demons that used to torment humans before a group of monk tamed and trained some of them to the Buddhist arts. They were as hideous as oni and now they used their sacred canes to confront them.

Aomine was patiently sitting on a rock near a river with a branch he modified into a fishing rod and waited for some stupid fish to catch his bait. Next to him, Kuroko was observing him with curious eyes. When he silently popped out of nowhere, Aomine reacted holding his breath, but did no more and the silence between them accompanied that unusual moment.

As the rod twitched a bit, Kuroko fidgeted and Aomine stayed still until the thread was stretched enough for him to pull the fish back directly to him with a single jerk. Silvery glimmers shone on the fish scale as he was forced out from the water and landed between Aomine and Kuroko. He was still twitching in a desperate attempt of freeing himself from the painful hook. However Aomine grabbed him tightly and he had no more chances of escaping even with the hook wasn’t anymore pierced inside his mouth.

He looked at his dinner and his stomach growled, reminding him he was hungry. Yet he felt a tickle at the level of his neck and turned to realize Kuroko’s eyes were sparkling with interest for the fish.

“You never seen one?”

Kuroko shook his head and Aomine smiled at his naïve behavior.

“Hah. Here, have a closer look.”

Kuroko’s hands were small and pale. They looked smaller and fragile in comparison to his and Aomine was cautious, because somehow he was afraid he could have broken him if he touched him in the wrong way.

He chuckled as Kuroko jolted at the slimy touch of the fish sliding on his thin fingers. The fish twitched once again and jumped down from the palms wide opened, hitting the rocks before splashing back in the river, escaping along the stream.

Both stared at his neat figure swimming away in the clear waters. Aomine’s shock was broken by a sudden wave of hunger that contracted his stomach and he snapped at a calm Kuroko.

“Why didn’t you grab it?!”

“It surprised me.”

“What are your hands made of?!”

“Spiritual energy but it looks like human flesh.”

“You didn’t have to answer! Have you ever gone on hunt? Or do you find food under the trees ready to be eaten!!?”

“Humans give me candies.”

“Well, humans give me ofuda designed to kill me, so I need to hunt food on my own!”

Aomine didn’t know if he was angered at what happened or at Kuroko’s attitude: he kept staring at him with no interest, as if it wasn’t his fault that his dinner escaped.

“Animals are sensitive to my energy and much more intelligent than humans, so it’s difficult to catch them! Damn it!”

Kuroko did a slight nod and stood up.

“Don’t worry. I’ll catch some for you.”

Before Aomine could stop him, Kuroko threw himself into the river. And he just kept going down.

 

 

The fire crackled inside the mountain cave.

Kuroko was enveloped in a comfortable soft warmth and didn’t want to open his eyes. But when a tasty flavor tickled his nose, he slowly raised his eyelids and a blurry orangish color appeared. He blinked and stared at the fire somebody ignited using dry branches. The delicious scent was coming from the dead body of an impaled deer which was roasting under the attentive look of Aomine. A bit further Kuroko saw his own clothes hanging near the fire.

Kuroko sat down and the soft furry of the tippet he was wrapped in tickled his body as it fell down from his shoulders. He recognized it as Aomine’s, but didn’t remember it being so huge to cover him completely. He raised his head and meet Aomine’s gaze.

“Thank you.” He instinctively rubbed the white fur. “The lingering power here is similar to yours.”

“It was my mother’s. It adapts to the needs of the one using it.”

Aomine threw a small bag to him.

“Here. You eat candies, don’t you?”

“…where did you–“

“I stole them. But left a hare, so it should be more than fine for a deal.”

Kuroko felt his face burning under the heat coming from the fire. He kneeled with the tippet still covering from under his waist and looked at the deer; he drooled immediately and wasn’t able to hide his eager look of hunger from Aomine.

“Do you want some?”

Aomine ate almost all the deer. He expected a bit that Kuroko wouldn’t have eaten that much, but he was out of the game earlier than he imagined.

Aomine groaned in satisfaction after he swallowed the last piece of meat he ripped off the deer’s bones.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Kuroko was leaning down on the tipped with his hands on the stomach and the expression of someone who was so full he wouldn’t have managed to drink a sip of water.

“Yes…” He replied with a feeble voice. “It was good.”

“Yup. It was a strong deer, I’ll use his horns to strengthen my cub.”

“Oh. You know handicrafts.”

“Even among yokai just few agree to do something for us. So I had to learn if I didn’t want to succumb.”

Aomine stretched his arms over his head. His filled stomach and the warm fire were making the tippet Kuroko was still covered with so inviting to take a long nap while outside the rain kept falling.

“And you? Where’s your tengu?”

“I haven’t chosen a tengu to protect me yet. There’s a friend of mine, but he has to patrol on an entire region, so he was exempted from his duty towards the zashiki warashi. Sometimes he helps me though.”

“You should pick one quickly. I won’t always be there to take you out from a river.”

“But I didn’t know I’m not able to float. Now that I know I won’t jump again in a river.”

Aomine leaned down on the tippet that turned big enough to comfortably give enough space to sleep for both of them. Against the rocky ceiling he was lazily staring at, appeared Kuroko’s face. The tippet on his hips slid down his legs as he straddled on Aomine’s lap. Aomine stared at his naked slim body; he was so pale, his expression was so evanescent that if Kuroko turned into mist under his touch, he wouldn’t have been surprised. However Aomine poked Kuroko’s right nipple with the sharp nail of his index and he remained there, there was still his light weigh on his legs.

Kuroko bended towards him and Aomine saw the flames dancing inside his clear eyes.

“I won’t stop, you know that.”

Kuroko kissed over his words.

 

 

 

Aomine took the habit to stay nearby the village where there was the house Kuroko was protecting. It was a family of an old couple taking care of their nephew, but Aomine only managed to spy on them when they worked on the fields close the village’s edges, as all the tiny houses were under the protection of Shirogane’s ofuda. If only he entered their range, the priest could have sensed his presence and Aomine didn’t want to risk his life again.

He hid himself among the trees on the hill and somehow tried to have some glances of Kuroko’s presence. At first he went there when he had nothing better to do, but after few weeks he passed there every day, even just for few minutes and he was careful not to be followed by other oni.

“You are spying on me.”

“What? No way!”

“I sense you, Aomine-kun.”

“…you’re lying.”

“Are you worried? Humans don’t harm me.”

“I’m not worried. I’m just bored.”

“Every day?”

“Yes! Every day! Why won’t you shut up?!”

Aomine growled at him with his bare teeth and Kuroko gently kissed the tip of his nose.

“You… really…”

“I really should go back.”

“Already?”

“Yes. I can’t stay away for too long. They still give me offers.”

It was always lonely looking at Kuroko’s back disappearing into the village. Aomine grabbed his sleeve.

“Aomine-kun…”

“Just a little while, Te–“

His voice froze inside his throat. The sharp tip of an arrow pierced through Kuroko’s chest, neat and clean without blood dirtying the metal surface. Kuroko glanced down, showing a tiny glimpse of surprised as he looked back at Aomine. And he silently fell in his arms.

Aomine stared in front of him, his eyes trembling in rage as he spotted a couple of humans ready to throw another arrow. But the second hit was diverted with a neat swing of the club and Aomine sent the arrow back to the man holding the arch, who died with a hole into his head and a shocked expression on his face. The other human let his arch fall down and his scream faded into the forest as he run away.

Kuroko was a dead weight and his eyes were closed. The pinkish blur on his cheeks suddenly turned white and his lips were colder: those arrows were made to kill a yokai.

“…Tetsu.”

Aomine felt like his head was screaming in anguish, but he remained calm and, inside the anger, a rational thought dug his way and clearly surfaced. He knew what he had to do. Aomine tightened the grip on his club, slightly scratched by the arrow, and raised Kuroko, who fell against his chest.

He made his way towards the village and none of the animals and yokai in the forest dared to approach him.

 

 

 

Kagami Taiga was the strongest among the tengu. His main duty was to prevent foolish yokai from behaving indecently and strongly interfere with humans’ lives. He usually punished yokai who were too strong for common monks to stop and whose acts destroyed entire villages.

When Akashi ordered him to go at the village where the family Kuroko protected lived, he sensed a sinister omen. His guts shivered and he had the bad sensation he would have find something ill waiting for him. Or probably he was just worried, because Kuroko was his friend and, despite his mighty acts, he wasn’t able to protect himself.

Kagami detected the flames of the village from far away and as he landed in the exact middle of its ruins, he saw nothing but burning houses. No corpses, no humans around. The crackle of the ofuda, whose energy was miserably losing against the violent aura of the perpetrator of that disaster, sounded like a desperate request of help to Kagami’s ears.

“You’re late for having such big wings, tengu.”

Kagami slammed his pole on the ground as he turned. The metal rings at the top jingled and the clear sound expanded as an almost invisible wave that cleared the air from that venomous energy. The wave clashed against the aura around the oni standing in front of him.

“Let him go!”

He suddenly realized the yokai held inside the oni’s arms was Kuroko. But something was strange and a hidden instinct stopped Kagami from dashing on the oni ready to slash his head out from his neck. The club was leaning on the ground behind the yokai and the threatening aura decreased at every step he made towards him. His eyes weren’t black in the frenzy of a murderous intent and as the oni reached him, his defensive aura faded away under the pressure of Kagami’s energy.

“Take him to your mountain’s fount. Don’t give me that look, I’m an oni, not an idiot. I know about other yokai.”

Kagami reacted mechanically at Kuroko being handed down to him and the cold weight scared him out.

He stared back at the oni, memorizing his features and energy, and his sharp and sad eyes hit him so hard that Kagami couldn’t find a feel of hatred for him. The traces of human magic on the arrow tickled the ancient rivalry towards human race that tengu overcame through the centuries, but Kagami shook his head and spread his wings, disappearing in the whirlpools of smoke raising from the fire.

Aomine looked at the hole the tengu pierced into the gray air.

 

 

 

Kuroko was dead.

Aomine tried not to think about that and kept himself busy. Every day he went messing around with other oni or goblins, ending up in struggles where he could vent all his frustration by bringing his fellows to the edges of death. He felt free, he felt better, he felt satisfied with what he was.

“I think I’ll go eating some humans.”

He declared after he beat almost to death his “friend” Inoue. Haizaki threw his club in the air, it rolled before he grabbed it again and put it on his shoulder.

“Don’t give me that shit, Daiki. Last time that monk Shirogane almost sent you to Izanami! When was it? Six months ago?”

Aomine was tempted to crush Haizaki’s smile with his club.

“If someone wasn’t so scared of that Nijimura monk, I wouldn’t have faced all those monks in a row, you damn chicken!”

“Scared of that punk? Me?!”

“You weren’t so cocky when he almost sealed you!”

All the other oni made their ways out, trying not to be involved in whatever was going to happen between them. Haizaki jumped on Aomine and the clash of their clubs created a wave that shook the surroundings. Neither of them retreated and they kept putting all their strength to make the other take a single step back.

What stopped that battle at its beginning was the sudden appearance of a stranger aura that should have never trespassed the edges of their lands.

Every oni immediately recognized the wavelength of a tengu. Some escaped, others were curious and just stood there, while those who felt brave tried to track down the yokai to send it away.

“Oh-ho! Fresh meat here!”

Haizaki licked his lips, eagerly figuring out what kind of tengu had the guts to land directly on their laps ready to become a dead body to devour. He turned to Aomine, his eyes were lost in the sky and there were rides between his eyes. His expression was uninterpretable and Haizaki snorted.

“Oi Daiki, I’m taking him.”

As he pronounced the last word, the energy of the tengu approached them. A strong blow of wind announced his arrival and Haizaki’s grin widened into the smile of a folly.

The tengu descended in front of them, black feathers created circles around him; those weren’t barriers but looked like projectiles he was ready to use to stop whoever could have attacked him.

It was the same tengu from that fated day, with his hair as read as the flames that surrounded the village Aomine destroyed to catch the attention of someone who could have saved Tetsu. But after so long he never returned, Aomine understood he was dead.

“He said he wants to see you.”

“Who?”

Haizaki frowned. Since when Daiki was an acquaintance with a tengu?

The tengu sighed. “That idiot, Kuroko.”

Aomine’s club escaped from his fingers. Before he could control himself, his voice escaped from his lips.

“Bring me to him.”

Haizaki couldn’t believe it, even if it happened in front of his eyes: the tengu wrapped his huge wings around Aomine, who didn’t do anything to oppose to his force, and took the oni away in the sky.

 

 

 

The wind gently shook the green leaves, but their sound was so slight that even Aomine had difficulties in perceiving it. Around them tiny fireflies pulsated their feeble lights, giving a strange vibes to the weak colors of that nature.

That place somehow suited Kuroko, if he was really there. Tiny white flowers sprinkled on the grass and Aomine, who never cared about where he walked, was almost afraid he would have hurt them. Probably his mind was tricking him because those were Kuroko’s flowers. He was brought on the mountain where Kuroko lived. And Kuroko was still alive.

His heart bounced stronger inside his chest and he swallowed. If that tengu lied to him, he would have cut his wings.

“He’s there.”

Aomine looked at the pond of light inside the clearing. It was surrounded by tiny little circles of clear water carved at different levels inside a wall of rock and tiny streams of water poured from them inside the one on the soil. The light reflecting from inside the water was intense, yet calming and it didn’t hurt the eyes as the light of the sun.

The glimpse of a shadow caught Aomine’s attention. The blurred figure was far away, hidden into the reflections dancing on the trees.

“Aomine-kun?”

Aomine dashed into the water. He walked against the strength of the water until his feet felt the ground and then swum to the other side of the pond, until he felt the ground again and the shadow gained familiar features. His arms locked that naked body into a desperate hug.

“Tetsu.”

Aomine kept Kuroko’s head pressed against his chest. He just wanted to live into the delusion that was him for some more, before he faced reality. What if it was a lie? What if it was a trap? What if, what if… Kuroko was so warm as he remembered, when their bodies mingled together or their hands just touched slightly. Kuroko was warm and beautiful.

“Aomine-kun.”

Kuroko tilted his head back and his smile was the most wonderful view Aomine had ever seen.

“You still have… your stupid tuft.”

Aomine felt tears gathering into his eyes. They rolled down his cheeks and Kuroko wiped them away gently rubbing his fingertips on his skin.

“It’s my protection.” Kuroko clenched his eyes, shoving back his natural desire of crying. “I didn’t think Kagami-kun was serious. He brought you here. You’re here, Aomine-kun…”

Kuroko passed his hands on his neck. The shoulder, the chest, his hips and then the arms; he touched everything of Aomine, as if he wanted to check if it was reality or an illusion.

Aomine put his hand on Kuroko’s chest, where the image of the arrow still haunted his nightmares. It was neat and clean, as if nothing happened.

“It took so long…”

“Zashiki warashi are frail beings… whenever we have to treat any kind of wound, first of all the water clean us from all the energies we stored by the contact with other beings.” Kuroko slightly blushed. “Yours was pretty difficult to wash away.”

“Ah… I’m–“

“I don’t mind it at all! I want to receive your energy whenever we want! I want to stay with you, Aomine-kun…”

Kuroko was holding into his arms and arched his eyebrows in a sad frown.

“I’m being selfish, aren’t I?”

Aomine smacked his head before trapping him inside another hug.

“You idiot.” He hushed inside his ear. “I want to stay with you, Tetsu.”

Kuroko gave up and melted into a soft crying.

 

 

 

From the other side of the pond, Kagami was observing them. He had his arms crossed and didn’t flinch when the nurarihyon Akashi Seijuurou appeared at his side.

“I suppose this settle things.”

Kagami felt unease when it came to Akashi. Not because his status made him the leader of all the yokai, but for his personality that was quite unpredictable and that of a schemer.

“That surprised me, Kagami Taiga.” Akashi replied. “I was pretty sure the sacred water would have turned that oni into ashes. But when you came back with him, I understood he wouldn’t have.”

“Why?”

Akashi gave him that sharp look filled with knowledge. Under those eyes Kagami always had the sensation he could have never kept a secret hidden from him.

“Because Kuroko is your friend and you would have never let him see the yokai he loves die in front of his very eyes.”

“I’m not that great. It was just a sensation.”

“A right sensation.”

“Are you trying to flatter me?”

“No. Just saying things as they are. You did well.” Akashi gave his back to the pond. “I’ll take my leave and my advice is for you to do the same.”

Kagami glanced one more time at his friend, lost in the arms of that oni, and smiled.

“Just an idiot like Kuroko could have done that…”

“He always overcomes our expectations, huh?”

Kagami nodded and opened his wings. He flied down the mountain and landed on a tree, looking down through the leaves at the yokai sitting under its branches.

Sharp ears, a big fluffy white tail and golden eyes. Kise Ryouta sensed his presence and looked up at him. Kagami jumped down in front of him.

“Yo, Kise.”

“Kagamicchi. You’ve been fast doing your errand.”

Kagami looked around. “Did I interrupt you or are you just waiting for some human to trick?”

“Just enjoying the wind before the rain.”

Kise smiled, but his eyes were clouded by a hint of evil malice. Kagami looked away for an instant and frowned.

“Ah, I would have liked to see that oni. Isn’t it wonderful that Kurokocchi managed to tame an oni? Only he could do something like this!”

“He didn’t tame him…”

“Kagamicchi, don’t tell me you actually believe that an oni can feel something different from hatred and pleasure in killing? They’re as filthy as humans are.”

He was smiling, but inside his golden eyes there was a sinister shadow that made Kagami worry more than he actually wanted to. Tengu and kitsune had a little to share, but because of Kuroko he came to know Kise more than he ever did with any other yokai of the ground and he quite became fond of Kise.

“Kise…”

“The important is that Kurokocchi is fine.”

Kise came back to a naïve smile and chuckled as he smoothly shaped into the form of a white fox. The tip of his ears and tail were of a deep yellow, the same of his hair in his half-human form.

“If you’re going to the pond–”

“No. I’ll go back home. I don’t like my fur soaked in water.”

Right before Kise started moving, Kagami called him again.

“Hey, Kise.” His eyes were serious and Kise listened in silence. “When I went to the village, all the humans were safe. That Aomine went on rampage just to catch my attention, but he didn’t hurt every single human.”

Kise sat down and wrapped his tail around his legs. His sharp snout was directed at Kagami.

“So what? You mean he is a gentle oni?”

“…few days later Himuro found in one of his streams two corpses trapped into the roots of a tree. They came from that village and were pierced with arrows drenched in poison.”

“Well, I did it.”

Kise confessed so fast that Kagami couldn’t reply. His eyes were laughing.

“You know Kagamicchi, it took me a little to understand who hit Kurokocchi after I smelt the stink of that arrow. Humans leave their shitty scent everywhere and it’s not difficult to trace them.” Kise looked up at the gray clouds swallowed in water. “I’m leaving. I’ll see you around!”

The fox jumped into the shadows of the forest and left Kagami alone. The sky rumbled over his head.

**Author's Note:**

> I left an open ending on purpose. Probably I'll write more one shots about this yokai AU (but not a long fic) because I have many ideas about other pairings (like KagaKise, AkaFuri, MuraMuro and probably NijiHai) but I'm not sure when I'll manage to write them down.  
> But I hope this AoKuro one was nice to read for you :)


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